It has long been conventional practice in the fabrication of shoes to temporarily attach a molded or shaped insole to the bottom of a last so that the molded insole may remain in place on the last bottom while shoe manufacturing operations, such as a lasting operation, are performed. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,439,367 and 3,513,495 are illustrative of prior art machines that mold the insole and attach the molded insole to the last bottom by adhesive.
It is the object of the first aspect of the invention to provide a new arrangement for effecting the molding of the insole and the attachment of the insole to the last bottom that accomplishes this in a rapid, expeditious and effective manner. This is accomplished by transporting the flat insole between a lower mold and an upper mold having complementary molding surfaces while the molds are spaced from each other; then effecting relative closing movement of the molds upon the insole to enable the molding surfaces to mold the insole; then raising the upper mold while retaining the molded insole on the upper mold molding surface; then placing the last, while it is supported bottom-up, between the molds; then releasing the molded insole from the upper mold molding surface to permit the molded insole to descend onto the last bottom; and then attaching the molded insole to the last bottom.